Madonna has insisted she's no different from any other 'soccer mum' as she opened up about life with her children to Vogue Italia.

The world-famous star, who turns 60 on August 16, says her fame and fortune doesn't stop her from schlepping her kids back and forth for their hobbies - especially 12-year-old son David who could well be the next Ronaldo thanks to his success on the pitch.

"Any woman who is a soccer mom could say it kind of requires you to have no life in a way, because things change from week to week and games change from weekend to weekend – sometimes they’re in the city, sometimes they’re not, and we would never know until Thursday night whether they’re on Saturday or Sunday, if at twelve o'clock or later," she explained.

"It's impossible to make plans, and then you feel like you're not being fair to your other kids, or being fair to me!"

Madonna, who has been casually dating Kevin Sampaio for just over a year, said she moved her brood to the Portugese capital Lisbon for its football academy, so David could have the best chance of furthering his sporting career.

But despite the challenges of living away from their home in America, her youngest four children - David, Mercy James, 12, and her five-year-old twins Stella and Esther - have adjusted well to the change.

Madonna with three of her children (Image: Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, courtesy Vogue Italia)

"What's amazing is how resilient they are and how they embraced all things, especially music, dance, soccer and sports – things that connect them to other people makes adaptation easier," she went on.

"They learned to speak Portuguese through doing all those things with people, not by sitting in a classroom and learning in a didactic way, like writing on a chalkboard. Instead, it’s fun, it’s interactive.

"Especially with Stella and Esther, who were in an orphanage for four years; they’re so happy to join in, to help out, to be part of something whether it’s a small or a large group, to be the leaders. They’re extremely resilient and full of life and joy."

Madonna added: "They’re very open, and because of my work and travelling around the world, the things that I do and the places I find myself in, my children are very open-minded about everything, and I’m very proud of that. A lot of people say to me, ‘You must really want your son to be a successful soccer player, your oldest daughter [Lourdes] to be a dancer, Rocco to be a painter.’

"And I always say no, what I want my children to be is loving, compassionate, responsible human beings. That’s all I want. I don’t care what the vehicle is, I just want them to be good human beings that treat other human beings with dignity and respect, regardless of skin colour, religion, gender. This is the most important thing, you know what I mean? If they happen to be the next Picasso or Cristiano Ronaldo, then great, that’s just the cherry on the cake."